Is ISIS operating as Hizbul Tahreer in Jammu and Kashmir?

Srinagar, Aug 4: In the midst of all the chaos in Jammu and Kashmir, intelligence agencies have stumbled upon an outfit called the Hizbul Tahreer which incidentally is a shadow outfit of the ISIS.

Intelligence Agencies are not taking lightly the ISIS threat when J&K is concerned. This is largely to do with the fact that a two year old map of the ISIS called the Global Islamic Council has Jammu and Kashmir prominently displayed on it.

The Hizbul Tahreer or HT has splinter groups currently operating in Jammu and Kashmir. The role of the outfit is to solely focus on recruiting operatives for the ISIS and spreading its ideology. It is a very small outfit at the moment, but has been involved in propagating the ISIS cause.

Recently banners and flags of the ISIS had cropped up in J&K and this was blamed on the HT.

Training cadres

Further proof of the ISIS's and HT link cropped up when the National Investigation Agency probed a case against Ayaz Sultan. The call centre employee who was radicalised on the web was told by his ISIS handlers to get in touch with HT operatives.

When he got in touch with them, they called him over to Kashmir where he was imparted training. Following this he made his way out of India and into Syria and is now believed to be part of the outfit. Investigations also revealed that several more persons had been trained by the HT for the ISIS.

Currently the role of the HT is to train cadres. They are low key at the moment and every now and then put out flags and banners relating to the ISIS. This is a deliberate ploy and they are still testing the waters, IB officials say.

"There may be around 30 of their operatives in Kashmir at the moment. They call in cadres from different parts of the country and train them in shooting, mountain climbing and guerrilla warfare," officials also pointed out.

They get them ISIS ready before launching them into Syria, officials added.

Officials are also closely monitoring if the members of the HT had trained cadres and launched them into Afghanistan. ISIS has been trying to make inroads in Afghanistan as well. The recent arrest of a lady by the name Yasmeen had revealed that she wanted to join the rest of the ISIS recruits from Kerala in Kabul.